Joint for under-water structures

ABSTRACT

A joint for under-water structures comprising a fixed retaining plate having a projected line extended along the periphery of the end surface of an adjacent under-water structure, onto said end surface thereby fixing the gasket made of elastic material such as rubber onto said retaining plate in such a manner that the middle portion of the end surface of said gasket is against the projected line of said retaining plate; and presses the central projected line and projected lines on both sides formed at the end portion of said gasket onto the end surface of the other adjacent under-water structure.

United States Patent [1 1 Shimizu 111 3,750,411 [451 Aug. 7, 1973 JOINT FOR UNDER-WATER STRUCTURES [76] Inventor: Soichiro Shimizu, 7-5, Z-chome,

Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan [22] Filed: Apr. 16, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 134,765

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Apr. 16, 1970 Japan 45/31975 May 1, 1970 Japan 45/42335 (utility model) [52] US. Cl 61/43, 61/45 R, 277/166, 277/207, 277/229 [51] Int. Cl. E013 3/10 [58] Field of Search 61/43, 42, 45 R,

' [56] 5 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 907,357 12/1908 Hoff 61/43 2,877,628 3/1959 Maunscll 61/43 2,913,782 11/1959 Quoss 49/493 X 2,993,243 7/1961 Beauchamp 49/499 X 3,069,861 12/1962 Berke ct al. 49/499 X 3,126,591 3/1964 Hamilton 49/489 3,170,967 2/1965 Williams et al. 49/489 X 3,483,706 12/1969 Taradash et al. 61/45 R 323,731 8/1885 Phillips 277/211 1,234,416 7/1917 Sweigard... 277/207 X 2,307,440 1/1943 Wilson 277/211 UX 2,674,472 4/1954 Meyer 220/46 R X 3,136,444 6/1964 Moyer 220/26 S 3,508,759 4/1970 Crow et al. 277/166 X 3,520,541 7/1970 Rohani 2771207 A X 3,656,769 4/1972 Jelinek et a1 277/209 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLlCATlONS 6,701,873 8/1968 Netherlands 61/43 687,955 2/1953 Great Britain 277/166 Cornell [5 7 ABSTRACT A joint for underwater structures comprising a fixed retaining plate having a projected line extended along the periphery of the end surface of an adjacent underwater structure, onto said end surface thereby fixing the gasket made of elastic material such as rubber onto said retaining plate in such a manner that the middle portion of the end surface of said gasket is against the projected line of said retaining plate; and presses the central projected line and projected lines on both sides formed at the end portion of said gasket onto the end surface of the other adjacent under-water structure.

7 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENIED AUG 7 I975 SHEEI 1 OF 4 INVENTOR.

57- n z "k Sam mo BY aw gamaz? PATENTED 3.750.41 1

amazon mvmozz,

j fhlkb jinn/721 PAIENTED 3,750.41 1

SHEEN; 0F 4 INVENTOR. S mk o Skzmz SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a joint for underwater structures, including means for joining cylindrical boxes, or angular boxes to be sunk for boring tunnels for cars and persons at the bottom of a sea or river.

Generally, when a tunnel is bored through the water bottom, conventional methods for boring tunnels, through rocks under water, through sand, or a method for making tunnels by providing water-tight sunk boxes are now being employed.

Recently, box-sinking methods in which the sunk boxes are connected in the longitudinal direction in water, has been employed. Using this method, it is difficult to accurately and in a water-tight manner connect the respective facing end portions of the sunk boxes.

An object of the present invention is to provide a joint for under-water structures capable of accurately and water tightly connecting the respective facing end portions of the adjacent water structures such as sunk boxes.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a joint for joining under-water structures capable of preventing the breakage of the water proofing gasket, and also capable of easily attaching the water proofing gasket to underwater structures.

The joint of the present invention for the underwater structure is characterized by the retaining plate having a projected line extending along the periphery of the end surface of one of the adjacent under-water structures which is fixed onto said end surface of one of the under-water structures, and the middle portion of the base end surface of the belt form gasket which is made of elastic material such as rubber contacts against the projected line of said retaining plate to fix the said gasket onto the said retaining plate, and the central projected line and projected lines on both sides provided on the end portion of said gasket are pressedonto the end surface of the other under-water structure, and the supporting member which is fixed onto the under-water structure contacts against end surfaces on both sides of the said belt form gasket in the longitudinal direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The attached diagrams show the embodiments of the present invention. V

FIG. I is a side view of the entire embodiment showing the under water structure such as a sunk boa provided in a shaft;

FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 are the diagrams showing the examplea in which a joint of the present invention is used in the water proof connection of two hollow under-water concrete structures; FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the example in which said joint is separated; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the front view of the embodiment of FIG. 2 along the III-III line; FIG. AI is a diagram showing an enlarged view of the main portion of the embodiment of FIG. 3 out along lV--IV line;

FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are the diagrams showing the example in which the joint of the present invention is used for the water proof connection of two hollow, underwater iron structures: FIG. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross sectional view of the main portion similar to that of FIG. 4 showing the example in which the joint of the present invention is separated; and FIG. s is a diagram of the enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the main portion of the embodiment showing the example in which the joint of this invention is compressed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the partially aslant view of the belt form packing;

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the partially aslant view of the pressing member;

FIGS. 9 and 10 are the diagrams showing the examples in which the joint of another embodiment of the present invention is used for water proof connection between hollow under water concrete structures: FIG.

9 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional view of the main portion of the embodiment in which the joint is compressed; and FIG. 10 is an enlarged aslant view of the embodiment, a part of which is cut off.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The following is an explanation about an embodiment of the present invention. V

FIG. 1 is a side view of the whole embodiment showing the state in which the under water structures such as sunk boxes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 between the shafts A, A and the under water structures are respectively joined water tightly through gaskets.

FIG. 2 through FIG. 4 are diagrams showing the cases in which a joint of the present invention for connecting under water structures is used for water tightly connecting the hollow under water structures. The end portion of said gasket 10 is contacted against the end surface of the other hollow under water structure water tightly connected to each other; the details of said joint are explained in accordance with FIG. 4.

The retaining plate 7 which is made of iron having a projected line 6 extending in parallel with the periphery of the end surface of one of the under water hollow structures 1,2 is fixed on said end surface by means of an anchor reinforcing bar a, and a pressing plate 9 which is made of iron having a plain pressing surface 8 which is fixed on the end surface of the other under water structure by means of the anchor bar b.

is a belt form gasket made of elastic material such as rubber, and is shaped into such a form that the crosssectional view thereof is trapezoidal and the gasket attaching flanges ill are provided on both sides of the base end portion thereof, and the central projected line 12 and the projected lines 13 on both sides are formed on the end surface thereof.

The middle portion of the base end surface of i said belt form gasket 10 is placed in such a manner that said middle portion of the base and surface can be contacted against the projected line 6 of said retaining plate 7 and the belt form pressing member 14 is contacted against the outer surface of said gasket attaching flanges t1, and the T letter from bolt 17 which is engaged against said retaining plate '7 is passed through the bolt holes 11$ and 16 provided through said gasket attaching flanges 11 and the belt form pressing member M, and the gasket attaching flanges ll of the belt form gasket 10 are fixed onto the retaining plate 7 by means of the nut w.

FIGS. 5 and s are the diagrams showing the embodiments in which a joint of the present invention for connectiong under water structures is used for water proof connection of hollow under water structures made of iron, and the only difference between the embodiment of FIG. s and that of FIG. 5 is that in the joint as shown in FIG. 4, the retaining plate 7 and the pressing plate 9 are fixed onto the end surfaces of the adjacent under water concrete structures by means of anchor reinforcing bars a and b, whereas in the joint of FIG. 5, the retaining plate 7 and the pressing plate 9 are respectively welded on the end surfaces of the adjacent under water structures of iron I and 1 Thus, the end surface of the belt form gasket 10 which is fixed onto one 1, of the under water structures is pressed onto the pressing surface 8 of the pressing plate 9 at the end surface of the other under water structure 2 to perform water proof connection.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an embodiment of belt form gasket 10, and said belt form gasket has soft rubber layers 21 and 22 wherein the central portions thereof are thicker than the rest, and the hard rubber layer 23 is provided between the respective soft rubber layers 21 and 22, and the three layers are united into one.

When the belt form gasket 10 is formed as described above, it is possible to further improve the stability and water tightness of the belt form gasket 10 when compressed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the belt form pressing member 14, and bolt holes 16 are provided with equal intervals therebetween through said belt form pressing member 14.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are the diagrams showing another embodiment of the joint of this invention, wherein reinforcing metal plates 24 and 25 are fixed on the end surfaces of the hollow under water structures 1, 2 which are made of concrete, and the retaining metal plate 7 having metal rod 26 fixed thereonto extending along the periphery of the end surface, is welded on one 24 of the reinforcing metal plates.

in the same manner as mentioned above, the middle portion of the base end surface of the belt form gasket 10 is placed in such a position that said middle portion can be contacted against said metal rod 26, and supporting metal member 27 which extends along the end surface of the attaching flanges 11 provided on both sides of the base end portion of said belt form gasket 10, are welded on both sides of said retaining plate 7.

Therefore, when said belt form gasket 10 is strongly compressed to exert a great force of expansion onto the base end portion of said gasket 10 so as to widen the width thereof, said great force of expansion is received by said supporting member 27 to prevent the expansion of said gasket 10 throughout the whole length thereof.

28 is a belt form pressing member, and is contacted against the surface of the attaching flanges 11 of the gasket 10, and bolt 30 passing through bolt 29 of the pressing member 28 is engaged into said supporting member 27 to attach said gasket 10 onto said retaining plate 7.

The structure of the joint of the present invention for connecting under water structures, is as described in the foregoing paragraphs, and in accordance with the present invention it is possible to easily carry out water proof connection of the facing end portions of the adjacent under water structures by relatively transferring the under water structures 1, 2 to be connected to each other and by pressing the end surface of one of said under water structures to the end portion of the belt form gasket of the other under water structure, and at the same time, the projected line of the retaining plate is contacted against the middle portion of the base end surface of the belt form gasket, and the central projected line is provided on the end portion of belt form gasket, and therefore the middle portion of the belt form gasket is compressed and strongly pinched, and thereafter the belt form gasket is compressed on both sides thereof, and therefore even when the retaining plate and pressing plate are not in parallel, it is possible to compress the belt form gasket stably by preventing the end of said belt form gasket from being so tilted as to be displaced in the inner and outer directions of the under water structures, and at the same time the groove portion between the central projected line and the projected lines on both sides are pressed onto the pressed surface of the under water structures to be adsorbed, and therefore more accurate water proofness can be attained.

The joint of the present invention for connecting under water structures is of such a structure that the supporting material extending along the end surface of the attaching flanges provided on both sides of the base end portion of the belt form gasket, is united to the under water structure as to which the belt form gasket is fixed as mentioned above, and at the same time a bolt is passed through the belt form pressing member contacted on the surface of the respective attaching flanges, and said bolt is screwed up onto the supporting member, and therefore when the gasket receives great compressive force and great force of expansion for widening the width thereof should be given to the base ends of said gasket, the expansion on the base ends of the gasket can be prevented throughout the whole length thereof by receiving the great force of expansion with said supporting member, and it is possible to attach the gasket without providing the bolt holes on the attaching flanges, and therefore the operation for attaching the gasket can be easily carried out without requiring the adjustment of the positions of the bolt holes of the gasket attaching flanges and belts.

in addition, it is possible to provide the bolts at the position away from the gasket attaching flanges, and therefore when the gasket is compressed, the bolt is contacted against the swollen portion of the gasket to avoid the prevention of the compression, which is accounted to be an advantage.

What we claim is:

1. A joint for underwater structures which comprises a retaining plate having a projected line extending along the periphery of the end surface of a first structure and is fixed onto said end surface of said structure, a belt form gasket, said projecting line contacting the middle portion of the base end surface of said belt form gasket which is made of elastic material, such as rubber, and having gasket attaching flanges on both sides of the base end portion of said gasket, said gasket having at an oppositely disposed base end portion a central projected line and adjacent projected lines on either side adapted for pressing engagement with a second underwater structure end surface, wherein a bolt passes through a belt form pressing member contacting against the surface of each gasket attaching flange to screw up said bolt into said supporting member to fix said belt form gasket attaching flanges onto the retaining plate and wherein the second under water structure has affixed to the end portion a pressing plate, adapted for pressing engagement with said central and adjacent projection lines on said gasket.

2. A joint for under water structures according to claim I, which comprises in addition, a supporting are fixed onto the end surface portions by an anchor reinforcing means.

5. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1 wherein reinforcing metal members are fixed on the end surfaces of the underwater structures.

6. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1 wherein the projecting line is a metal rod.

7. A joint for underwater structures according to claim 1 wherein the belt-form gasket is trapezoidal in cross-sectional form.

wl l t! '3' 

1. A joint for underwater structures which comprises a retaining plate having a projected line extending along the periphery of the end surface of a first structure and is fixed onto said end surface of said structure, a belt form gasket, said projecting line contacting the middle portion of the base end surface of said belt form gasket which is made of elastic material, such as rubber, and having gasket attaching flanges on both sides of the base end portion of said gasket, said gasket having at an oppositely disposed base end portion a central projected line and adjacent projected lines on either side adapted for pressing engagement with a second underwater structure end surface, wherein a bolt passes through a belt form pressing member contacting against the surface of each gasket attaching flange to screw up said bolt into said supporting member to fix said belt form gasket attaching flanges onto the retaining plate and wherein the second under water structure has affixed to the end portion a pressing plate, adapted for pressing engagement with said central and adjacent projection lines on said gasket.
 2. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1, which comprises in addition, a supporting member extending along the end surface of each attaching flange onto one of the under water structures to which the belt form gasket attaching flanges is provided.
 3. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1 wherein the belt form gasket is of such a structure that a soft rubber layer is respectively provided on the base end side and top end side, and hard rubber layer is provided between the respective soft rubber layers.
 4. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1, wherein the retaining plate and pressing plate are fixed onto the end surface portions by an anchor reinforcing means.
 5. A joint for under water structures accordiNg to claim 1 wherein reinforcing metal members are fixed on the end surfaces of the underwater structures.
 6. A joint for under water structures according to claim 1 wherein the projecting line is a metal rod.
 7. A joint for underwater structures according to claim 1 wherein the belt-form gasket is trapezoidal in cross-sectional form. 